2009 White House Easter Egg Roll tickets available now

White House Photo | ERIC DRAPER

Children race to reach the finish line by rolling hard-boiled eggs across the South Lawn of the White House during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

The 2009 White House Easter Egg Roll will take place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 13 on the South Lawn of the White House.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are continuing the Easter tradition, which dates back to 1878 when President Rutherford B. Hayes hosted the first White House Egg Roll. The theme of this year's egg roll is "Let's Go Play" -- a nod to the importance of keeping children fit and active.

Tickets will be distributed online for the first time ever. According to whitehouse.gov, "Tickets will be available at various times throughout the day. If you are unable to order tickets at this time, please check back later." Orders will be limited to six tickets, and the number of tickets available has not been disclosed.

If you are lucky enough to score tickets, your best bet for getting there is by D.C. Metro and walking to the White House.

source lehighvalleylive.com

Cool Guinness Stout Information

Guinness Information

1. In 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on an unused brewery at St. James's Gate, Dublin. It cost him ?100 (about $147) with an annual rent of ?45 (about $66) - including water rights!

2. In 1929, the British national press published the first "Guinness is Good For You" advertisement.

3. In 1963, the St. James's Gate brewery switched from storing beer in wooden barrels to metal kegs.

4. Worldwide, 10 million glasses of Guinness are consumed daily.

5. Guinness Extra Stout is the closest variant to the Guinness Porter originally brewed by Arthur Guinness.

6. From 2000-2004, 2 million people visited the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

Source: Guinness.com

Corn Beef and Cabbage Recipe

For everyone that is getting prepared for St. Patrick's day here is an excellent corned beef and cabbage recipe.

Place a 3-pound uncooked corned beef brisket in a large Dutch oven; add 20 cups cold water, two large bay leaves, two teaspoons black peppercorns, four whole allspice berries (or one teaspoon ground) and two whole cloves (or 1/4 teaspoon ground). Bring to a boil, uncovered, and remove any scum that rises to the surface. Cover pot with a tight-fitting lid and transfer to a preheated 300 degree oven; braise until very tender, about four hours.

Place the corned beef on a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. To the cooking liquid add eight medium red potatoes and eight large carrots and bring back to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes than add a head of cabbage that has been cut into wedges. Simmer another 10-12 minutes or until all vegetables are tender.

Slice the corned beef across the grain into thin slices and arrange all the cooked vegetables around the meat. Ladle some of the hot cooking liquid over all and season with salt and pepper; serve with mustard and spicy horseradish.

Shamrock Seeds Seized

Federal Agents at Dulles airport have seized shamrock seeds arriving from Ireland. Apparently the seeds were found with some meat that was also seized. You need a permit to import the seeds.

Google Voice is Here

Google has now taken Grand Central and is upgrading it into Google Voice. Some of the new features are.

• Automated voicemail transcriptions: Users can choose to receive free fully-automated transcriptions of voicemail messages that become searchable in the Google Voice inbox.
• SMS messaging: Google Voice numbers can now accept SMS messages and forward them to your mobile device and in your Google Voice inbox and reply from either one, as well.
• Conference calling: If you’re on the phone and get another call, you can merge them - linking up to six people on a single call.
• International calling: Place calls from your line and pay for them using Google Checkout
• New forwarding features: Set up custom rules that allow you to determine when and where calls are routed, forcing calls to voicemail late at night, ringing on the cell phone only during off-peak hours and at the office during work hours.
• Gmail Contacts: Google Voice integrates contacts from the Gmail address book.

Best of all this is a free service